Valencia Regional Government Choir

For quite some time, the Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana has been acknowledged by Spanish critics and audiences as one of the top choirs in all of the country. It earned this prestige early on, after it was created in 1987 as the Choir of Valencia (Coro de Valencia), and it has maintained its reputation brilliantly until its latest phase, which started in 2006 when it became the Palau de les Arts resident opera choir.

The Cor de la Generalitat is part of the Music Division of Culturarts. Francesc Perales is its Director, Jordi Blanch is Assistant Director, and Francisco Hervás is the accompanying pianist. The choir's repertoire includes opera and symphonic choral music from all periods of history. It has performed under conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Bertrand de Billy, Riccardo Chailly, Franz-Paul Decker, Manuel Galduf, Enrique García Asensio, Luis Antonio García Navarro, Miguel Angel Gómez Martínez, Valeri Guerguiev, Leopold Hager, Cristóbal Halffter, Robert King, Sir Neville Marriner, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Marc Minkowski, Krzysztof Penderecki, Josep Pons, Michel Plasson, Georges Prêtre, Helmuth Rilling, Guennadi Rojdestvenski, Antoni Ros-Marbà, Mstislav Rostropovich, Claudio Scimone, and Alberto Zedda. In addition to its regular performances in Valencia's Palau de la Música, it has participated in the most prestigious Spanish seasons and festivals (Granada, Santander, Peralada and Grec, among others). Performances abroad include the Festival Cervantino de Guanajuato (Mexico), the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, the Lisbon World Expo, and St Patricks Cathedral in New York City. The choir also participated in the major European festivals with the show Tramuntana Tremens, by composer Carles Santos. During that time it also presented recordings of compositions by Frederic Mompou, Manuel de Falla, Joaquín Rodrigo, Luis de Pablo, and Alfredo Aracil. The choir's most recent recordings include their collaborations with the early music ensemble Capella de Ministrers, and with the exhibition programmes of La luz de las imágenes, organised by the Generalitat Valenciana.

Since its association with the Palau de les Arts, the Cor has participated in almost all of its productions, mostly under the baton of Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta and Omer Meir Wellber. Some of these performances have been published in DVD: Fidelio, which opened the theatre's first season, Turandot, Götterdämmerung, Cyrano de Bergerac (with Plácido Domingo), El rey que rabió by Ruperto Chapí, La bohème, etc.

Throughout the 2013-2014 season, the choir gave a series of concerts to commemorate its 25th anniversary, including a concert with the Orchestra of the Valencian Community, conducted by Zubin Mehta at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía.

The Cor has received the Medal of Honour of the International Music and Dance Festival of Granada, the Commemorative Medal of the 25th Anniversary of Valencia's Palau de la Música, the Clar de Llums Award from the University of Valencia, the Importante Award from Editorial Prensa Valenciana, and the Merit Medal in Fine Arts from the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos.

Their recording for Sony Music of Domingo Verdi, with Plácido Domingo and the Orchestra of the Valencian Community, received the 2014 Latin Grammy for Best Classical Music Album.